The present disclosure relates generally to a system and method for radio communication. More particularly, the present disclosure relates to a switch unit configured to couple a plurality of radios to a plurality of antennas based on a selected antenna configuration.
Radio communication systems may include multiple radios configured to communicate signals over multiple antennas. In these systems, each radio may be coupled to at least one antenna for transmitting and receiving signals. Further, the antennas may be tuned to handle the frequencies transmitted and received by the corresponding radio. The antennas of such systems may be allocated manually to particular radios, or a multiplexer device may be used to allocate the antennas to the radios automatically. In a multiplexer system, a failure or malfunction of the multiplexer device may lead to the inoperability of the radio communication system.
According to one illustrated embodiment of the present disclosure, a failsafe system for a radio communication system is provided. The failsafe system includes a plurality of antennas and a plurality of radios configured to communicate a radio signal over the plurality of antennas. The failsafe system further includes a switch assembly and a controller coupled to the switch assembly. The switch assembly includes a control device and a plurality of switches in communication with the control device. The switch assembly is configured to selectively couple the plurality of radios to the plurality of antennas based on an antenna connection scheme. The control device includes a first circuitry portion and a second circuitry portion. The controller is configured to provide a plurality of control signals to the control device of the switch assembly, and the plurality of control signals identify an antenna connection scheme for coupling each radio to at least one antenna. The control device is further configured to implement the identified antenna connection scheme based on the plurality of control signals, wherein the control signals are received by the first circuitry portion and the second circuitry portion of the control device. The first circuitry portion is configured to produce a first output based on the control signals, and the second circuitry portion is configured to produce a second output based on the control signals. The first output is configured to identify a first antenna connection scheme, and the second output is configured to identify a second antenna connection scheme. The switch assembly implements a default antenna connection scheme upon the first antenna connection scheme identified with the first output being different from the second antenna connection scheme identified with the second output.
According to another illustrated embodiment of the present disclosure, a failsafe method for a radio communication system is provided. The method includes the step of providing a plurality of antennas, a plurality of radios configured to communicate over the plurality of antennas, a switch assembly including a control device, and a controller coupled to the switch assembly. The control device includes a first circuitry portion and a second circuitry portion, and the switch assembly is configured to selectively couple the plurality of radios to the plurality of antennas based on an antenna connection scheme. The method includes providing a plurality of control signals to the control device of the switch assembly, the plurality of control signals identifying a selected antenna connection scheme for coupling each radio to at least one antenna. The method includes executing a first algorithm with the first circuitry portion to produce a first output, the first algorithm being based on the plurality of control signals, and providing a first antenna connection scheme with the first output. The method further includes executing a second algorithm with the second circuitry portion to produce a second output, the second algorithm being based on the plurality of control signals, and providing a second antenna connection scheme with the second output. The method further includes comparing the first output and the second output and implementing a default antenna connection scheme upon the first antenna connection scheme provided with the first output being different from the second antenna connection scheme provided with the second output.
According to yet another illustrated embodiment of the present disclosure, a method of selectively coupling radios to antennas in a radio communication system is provided. The method includes the steps of providing a plurality of antennas, a plurality of radios configured to communicate over the plurality of antennas, a switch assembly including a programmable device, and a controller configured to provide a plurality of control inputs to the programmable device of the switch assembly. The plurality of control inputs cooperate to form a control input pattern representative of an antenna configuration. The switch assembly is configured to selectively couple each radio to at least one antenna based on the antenna configuration. The method includes receiving an antenna map including a plurality of case statements, each case statement associating an antenna configuration with a control input pattern. The antenna map is linked to a source code for programming the programmable device of the switch assembly, and the source code provides the plurality of case statements of the antenna map to the programmable device. The source code includes an identifier. The method includes modifying a first case statement of the antenna map, the first case statement associating a first antenna configuration with a first control input pattern. The modifying step includes modifying at least one of the first antenna configuration and the first control input pattern. The method further includes automatically updating the source code with the modified first case statement upon modifying the first case statement, the updating step including modifying the identifier of the source code. The method includes automatically reconfiguring the programmable device with the updated source code based on the modified identifier of the updated source code. The method further includes implementing the first antenna configuration with the programmable device based on the modified first case statement, and communicating between the plurality of radios and the plurality of antennas according to the first antenna configuration.
Additional features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art upon consideration of the following detailed description of illustrative embodiments exemplifying the best mode of carrying out the invention as presently perceived.
Corresponding reference characters indicate corresponding parts throughout the several views. Although the drawings represent embodiments of various features and components in the present disclosure, the drawings are not necessarily to scale and certain features may be exaggerated in order to better illustrate and explain the present disclosure. The exemplification set out herein illustrates embodiments of the disclosure, and such exemplifications are not to be construed as limiting the scope of the invention in any manner.